Set after the battle with the Red Death, while Hiccup is in unconscious, thoughs whom cared about him see him in his coma, and Astrid obtains a revelation about their first flight together, and of what he had won from her. Review please!

The sunlight was only half visible, the sun itself was annoyed, really, to have its holy bright light shunned by a display of fog in the atmosphere. Though soon its time to shine would come to an end upon the arrival of nightfall, to even have one small area shaded from you was annoying. With the war over and the largest of all dragons, the Red Death, slayed, they all regrouped and returned to their island. Considering the condition of their ships, which were now nothing more than smoke a rubble, it seemed nearly impossible to sail back, they were lucky enough to even get half the boats to float again. However, given how the recruits had gotten to the isle, the idea emerged not to sail back home, but to fly.

Their island, village, and home, named Berk, had been awaiting their return, and the Vikings themselves were joyed and relieved as much as it was to step upon its grounds again. The familiar sand, dirt and mud was slightly cold, but they were just happy enough to plant their feet upon it and reminisce.

However, there were a few souls who didn't take the time to enjoy their restore to Berk, some were more concerned with a young man, the same young man whom had just placed himself in history. The young, teenage boy, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, lied deep in a coma, his unconscious form covered with a blanket over his torso and legs, while he was carried up the hill on a stretcher made of wooden poles and sheep skin. His father, Stoick the Vast, held and directed one end of the stretch, as Gobber the Belch, Astrid Hofferson, and a black, Night Fury dragon followed in concerned for the boy's survival.

In the hut on the hill, they raised the young man off of the stretcher and placed him on his own bed. There, Gobber removed the blanket from over his legs... well, leg, and observed the wound, where half of his left leg should have been. It wasn't much of a surprise, actually, every now and then, around the time of a battle, someone was likely to obtain some type of scar, and a missing limb was just as likely as anything else.

Stoick stood close to the bed, looming over his only child, worried that the first fight young Hiccup had been in would become his last and only fight. Shame really, the boy had done the unthinkable and proved everyone wrong about dragons, that giant beast they fought was the first real dragon he had ever slayed, and he had done with through the cooperation with the fierce Night Fury dragon, one that no one had seen or thought could be tamed into a pet, never mind a riding animal. But this victory and change of everything was of no concern to him, his son was in a coma, and he needed to be there for him, he needed to be the father the boy needed like he should have a long time ago.

Next to the battle-hardened veteran, Astrid stood motionless, frozen with fear for the injured lad, and the Night Fury kept both its piercing yellow eyes steady and watched for any reaction that would alert if he woke up.

Gobber, after finishing with making the proper observations for surgery, pulled out a pack with many tools and medicines, along with a quite interesting piece of hardware, a prosthetic leg. It was very common to see one of those, almost half of the other Vikings had prosthetics to replaced their lost limbs, this makeshift piece of steel was designed with support and reaction, to help mimic his lost leg's maneuvers if need be, if he was to ever walk again.

The old blacksmith, and unfortunately competent surgeon, placed a steel, half-round cup over the bloody end of Hiccup's kneecap, and began to seal it with a few screws. As each screw dug into his skin, the boy clenched his teeth, groaned, and even yelped at the pain. The Night Fury locked its gaze with him and came closer, as if to help and save him from the threat. Fortunately, Astrid, with all her strength, took hold of the dragon's head and pushed it back, hopefully restraining it. She knew the creature cared about Hiccup as much as she herself did, but in order to help him they needed to let the doctor do what a doctor's got to do.

Finally, the boy's jerking and yelping came to an end, as Gobber had finished installing the new cap. After which he applied the prosthetic leg to the cap, twisted in the secondary screws, which were only aimed at the cap and nowhere near his own flesh, and fully strapped it together. He was finished, it would be tight enough not to fall off while he was trying to walk, and it would be an excellent battlescar as a memory of his greatest victory.

"There we go!" He said with grin upon his face, "He'll be alright, he's just knocked out, and I'm sure he'll adjust to his new leg. But on the up-side, he can get his shoes half-price," he chuckled at his own joke, "But really, all we have to do is wait until he awakes."

With that information, Stoick sighed in relief, "Thank you, my friend," he replied to the Belch and dismissed him, and then looked back to his son. "I'm sorry son... for doubting you."

Eventually, he turned away, his eyes swelling with tears of joy and blessing that his boy was still alive. His gratitude, that was what he owed the Night Fury, if not for the dragon, if not for his son befriending this magnificent creature, the war between Vikings and dragons would have never come to an end, and neither would a new beginning that he would have to see through. For his son.

He glanced at the black dragon itself, as well as the young woman whom had accompanied them to make sure Hiccup would live. He bowed his head to them both and left the hut, knowing he could trust the girl to look over him, but also the dragon to guard and protect him at all times.

Astrid came closer and stood before the bed, taking the time to study the soundly resting features of the young man. She had not, previously, taken the time to notice it, but now... she realized Hiccup had quite a likable face. Before, she would've kicked herself for thinking such a thing, but she couldn't deny it, and she certainly couldn't deny it now. Hiccup was a handsome boy, and not like the rest of the typical men who always attempt to impress someone, he was nice, intelligent, and a skilled rider. That was what she would admit.

Without warning, the smooth scaly skin of the Night Fury brushed past her to observe the unconscious boy, checking if he was alive and well.

Astrid remembered when she had met the dragon, when she had been suspicious with Hiccup's rather odd behavior and constant eluding of the others. "Toothless" as what Hiccup had called it, and when the information that the boy had taken a dragon as a pet was obtained, she made the attempt inform the others, which would surely brand him as something of a traitor.

Boy had she been so hateful and unfair to him, to run without giving him a chance to explain, he was more than lucky when they had kidnapped her, and she had not only developed respect for him for it, she was beyond grateful for taking her for a ride on the dragon's back.

At first, she thought this would be some type of trick, that the Night Fury would take her far away and maroon her on an island, where no one would ever see her again. Then again, perhaps the dragon might have put Hiccup into some type of hypnotic trance, and it was planning to do the same to her. She accepted it anyway, mostly because she was less comfortable hanging from a tree and waiting to fall to her death, but also to see if what it really was that Hiccup was trying to "show" her.

When they took flight into the high sky, which was out of her natural element and into something completely new, she screamed and panicked, clenching tight onto the saddle she was perched on. After all these acrobatics, stunts, and wild flying that was only making her judgement of flying, never mind dragons, even worse. Perhaps this beast was trying to throw her off, to rid its back from the Viking that had been invited onto its back. Or maybe this was a plot formed by Hiccup, out of all this wild racing through the sky, she would have a greater chance of not falling to her death if she were to hold onto the boy himself, effectively given him something of a advantage of her, which was clever but annoyingly inappropriate.

But as soon as the flight became more smooth, after all the Night Fury's tricks and stunts had finally come to an end, Astrid daringly pried her eyes open to see what had happened. Upon the sight, she was wondering more of where they were, all she could see were clouds and the clear, blue upcoming night. Am I dead?- Where am I? She thought, observing all over this new place. It all looked so much like heaven, but she was still in the sky, riding on top a dragon, sitting on the saddle accompanied by Hiccup. She looked up to the cloud above her head, so white and puffy, like a piece of cotton or a sheep's fleece.

The temptation to touch them was hardly deniable, so she submitted into it and lifted one of her arms to feel the clouds. They weren't as expected, the cold, moist vapor simply brushed past her palm, leaving wet remnants, and continued to float innocently as the Night Fury flew. Sensing no danger in this smooth ride across the sky, Astrid raised both her arms up and allowed the clouds to race past and between her fingers.

It was all so... overwhelming. Never had she seen such beauty before, never had she felt so pure, so alive, so opened up, and so peaceful to mind. It was like a dream, actually, she was flying on a saddled dragon with a boy, whom she resented for besting her through all those training drills and combat matches with the dragons, but now felt a change in her, somewhat. Normally, she was never impressed with all of the attempts that other boys tried, presenting flowers to her, flirting with her, flexing their muscles towards her, it was all a waste of time. But this time was different, Hiccup wasn't really trying, but he had already impressed her by all that he had shown her, his skills with flying and directing a dragon, something she never thought was possible, for once, in her life, a boy had finally impressed her.

Just breathing in that pure, clean oxygen over every grounded Viking's head was enough to overwhelm her, to convince her to submit into such freedom and relaxation. Astrid looked over Hiccup's shoulder to observe the amazing sights she had never seen from such an angle, the waters, the mountains, even Berk looked especially beautiful from up so high, all that gave her anything of a distraction was the cold chill that floated along the night sky. She crept closer, wrapping her arms around Hiccup's torso and resting her chin on his shoulder, and gazed upon the beauty while sharing in his warmth. Normally, in any situation, she would have restrained herself from any type of action, but in that moment, which seemed like hours, her heart silenced her mind and made the decision.

After the interruption of the flight, following the dragons to their nest, and coming to the discovery of a much larger, more threatening dragon, Red Death, they had landed back in the hideout to where Hiccup and Toothless had been training in secrecy. Although she had not really cared for the decision to inform the others about what they had learned, and the boy's opposition to it, her mind was more wrapped around the last then that happened between them in that hideout.

Keeping her tough viking reputation accurate, she slugged Hiccup in the shoulder, "That was for kidnapping me..." She told him, right before she grabbed his shoulder, leaned close, and placed a quick kiss on his check, "...and that was for everything else." And with that, she turned and started back to the village. Along the way, she couldn't help but question herself. Did you just lose it, Astrid? What were you thinking?She asked herself a borage of questions, without taking the time to answer them all. But no matter what she thought of it, nor how much she might ignore and deny it all, but she had been changed, both in mind and heart, all because of that crazy boy and the Night Fury.

She smiled at the memory, almost unable to laugh at herself during that time. She had just rode on a dragon, discover the biggest revelation ever recorded, and fell in love on the same night. The whole event and experience, if recorded to her again on the same night, was enough to make her laugh at herself and send herself to bed with an asprin. But it was all true, and she couldn't laugh here and now.

However, the real revelation was that all of it was everything she knew about dragons, what their relationship could be like with the vikings, and this whole war with them. Astrid looked down at the Night Fury, "Toothless," and gently placed a cautious but non-threatening hand on its head, feeling the smooth, black scales.

The dragon glanced up to look at her, locking its yellow eyes with her own. At some time ago she heard stories of what happens when you look into the eyes of a Night Fury: Some stories claimed that their gaze would completely paralyze you where you stood, leaving you completely immobilized like a statue. Other stories declared that their gaze would hypnotize you and lead you back to their nest, where you would never be seen again. But today, she was laughing at those stories on the inside, she was looking into the very eyes of a real live Night Fury right now, and nothing was happening to her in any negative way.

The Night Fury held its gaze at her for a few seconds longer and then glanced back at Hiccup, as he groaned in his sleep, and for a second they both thought he was about to wake up. However, he only sighed and sunk deeper into his mattress, leaving them all to wait and even question if he would ever come out of this coma.

As time went by, Astrid replayed the memory of their first flight together over and over again. Reviewing each detail she could describe, until finally, revelation struck her knowledge. What if she hadn't let suspicion and jealousy take over and follow him--what if she hadn't flied on Toothless' back and experienced such a wonderful moment with Hiccup? Obviously they wouldn't have discovered the real reason the dragons raided them all of time, the vikings wouldn't have taken the risk to invade the nest and slay the dragons, and Hiccup would have never gotten hurt, lost his leg, or fall into a coma as he is now. All of this...was because of her.

The revelation was one that she had stunned herself with, Hiccup was in a coma, and it was her fault. Was Toothless now feeling she was a threat to him now?-- Would Hiccup blame her once he woke up... correction; if he woke up? Never had she felt so devastated by this, already she could blame herself so punishingly, but it appealed to her that nothing would ever make her forgive herself for all that had happened. But whatever happens after the end of his coma, his name and legacy would never be forgotten. The boy who had befriended a dragon, opened her eyes to the sky, and had ended the war was definitely going to make history.

But he had done more than slayed the Red Death and won the respect of everyone in the village, he had won her heart. She was mixed in multiple feelings right now, she was joyed, scared, and angry all the same, but mostly angry at the sleeping young man. If he died while she was waiting for him to open his eyes, she would never forgive him, or herself for that matter. She had been through far too much with him just to watch him die on her, on Toothless, and on everyone, it would just burn her rage even more.

She couldn't, however, further fuel her rage at him, the only emotion that was infinite in her was fear. Fear for his life, fear for his sake, and fear for never seeing his green emerald eyes and infectious smile again.

Feeling this may be the last time she might ever see him alive again, Astrid placed her hand on his forehead, brushing the soft, mud colored hair away from his face, and caressed his cheek and chin. Toothless glanced at this odd manner that the female human was performing upon his two legged companion, suspecting as if this was some type of healing ritual. Whatever the case be, the dragon hoped it worked.

Astrid smiled at the soft textures of Hiccup's face and skin, she leaned lower and closer to him, closing her eyes, and placed a gently kiss on his cheek, "Get well soon, Hiccup..." she told him in a near silent but angel-like voice. She kissed his other cheek, "I'll be waiting..."

She opened her eyes and backed away, wondering if her words had gotten to him. Either he did or didn't, she would be waiting for him, at least so she could slug him in the shoulder again for scaring her this way, and hopefully to celebrate him personally with her affection. Astrid silently backed up over to the door and glanced at Toothless, while the Night Fury studied her in slight curiosity.

"Promise me you'll watch him," she told the dragon, although knowing it probably didn't understand her, it helped give her hope. She turned away from the sight of the boy and his pet dragon and left the two in the hut, just as Toothless sat perched in front of the bed. He locked a watchful gaze on him and waited.

THE END

Yeah, I've seen several one-shots that detailed with Hiccup wakes up, but instead of going along with that, I decided to have it at Astrid's point of view for a change. I guess you may see this as a ideal deleted scene, or whatever. Hope you like it. So what do you think? I'd love to hear your opinions.

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